Rijeka (Day 1)

Arriving in Rijeka via the ferry meant we had to get an early start to the day. Having booked a cabin rather than the "deck" as many passengers appeared to have done, we had breakfast aboard the ship included in our fare. Breakfast before unloading at 7:00 a.m. meant we were up the earliest we had been in the past two weeks. It is a good thing we took advantage of the free breakfast - it was great. Nothing like scrambled eggs for the first time in a few weeks. Beyond that, being off the ship so early meant we had a full day of sightseeing ahead of us in Rijeka.

Rijeka is an interesting city. From what we had heard prior to our arrival from a few people we had met at various points on our journey was that Rijeka was nothing special in comparison to where we had been. Rijeka is a major port city for Croatia and much of its older architecture and charm has been destroyed to make way for a fledging industrial port city. As a result, tourism is not necessarily the biggest draw to the city and we had only one selection for a hostel, which had just opened the year prior.

Our hostel was very clean and obviously new but lacked the character and charisma of the other locations we had stayed. The receptionist was monotone, the rooms were bare white walls, and everything seemed to have a charge. 5 kune for a towel, 5 kune to use the internet, 10 kune for a Hosteling International card (you were required to have one), etc. After dropping off our bags we were given some insight into transportation around town and directed to the tourist office. Arriving in the center of Rijeka before 9 am allowed us some time at a cafe on the cities main pedestrian street people watching and surfing the internet (the whole city has free wifi) before the tourist office opened. At 9 a.m. we were given a map of the city and some recommendations of things to do. The tourist office, the couple we met in Dubrovnik, and the hostel all made recommendations to visit Opatija, the touristy area of northern Croatia about a twenty minute bus ride from Rijeka. With a full two days ahead of us we delayed our visit to Opatija and decided today to climb to the castle north of the city (via 500 steps) followed by a lazy afternoon at the beach (about fifteen minutes from our hostel).

Matt and I set out to conquer the 500 steps to Trsat castle as Monica turned back to do some sightseeing around the city. With a backpack in tow with laptop and camera the 500 steps seemed to go on for ever. We reached a landing after climbing without stopping and decided to take a break before finishing. Fifteen steps and a long straight landing into our second wind to climbing the stairs we realized we had already reached the top - what a relief. Matt and I toured around a chapel at the top of the stairs and made our way to view the Rijeka port from the vantage point of the castle. While not much to see besides the Adriatic sea and various cranes for loading and unloading cargo ships - we still had a favorable "high" vantage point of our last destination. Walking back down the steps we met Monica for lunch and returned to the hostel to check in to our room and change for a trip to the Adriatic.

The beach was about fifteen minute walk up the road from our hostel. There was no sand, only small rock pebbles, and not much room between the road and the water but we managed to sneak a spot on the rocks to lazily spend the afternoon. Each of us took a dip in the Adriatic (which is pretty cold in comparison to what we are used to) and spent some time taking in the sun. The view from the beach was beautiful across the crystal clear waters.

Having rested from a lazy afternoon we headed back to the city to a small restaurant near the fishing port and fish market that came as a recommendation of a guide book. The restaurant was just as it was described, small, quaint, and a hit with the locals. Our waitress was very friendly and apologized to not have an English menu. It is quite an experience to be in another country trying to make sense of what you are ordering. You sometimes wonder if you are getting a small appetizer or a large plate of food not being able to discern anything on the menu. In exchange for an English menu our waitress brought large platters of fresh fish to our table and attempted to explain our choices. After four large platters we were still overwhelmed with what to order (there was no Alaskan/Atlantic salmon :) ). I settled on a risotto with the "fruits of the sea" which was a fantastic blend of shelled fish with a very tasty plate of risotto. Overall the meal and local atmosphere was a hit.

After dinner we made our way back up to the castle (this time via bus) to inquire about the concert they were having that evening. Unfortunately the ticket price was beyond what we were willing to pay but we did manage a five minute preview at the hands of the gracious ticket seller. After leaving the main venue we spent some time on the grass just outside the castle listening to the muffled concert before returning to the city via the stairs (it is a lot easier to go down then up). We had a few drinks next to the cafe we had earlier had coffee at and called it a day.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from Rijeka.... I think I took a few (not too much to see) but for some reason they don't seem to have made it on to the computer and are not on my camera. I will have to get some from Monica or Matt in a few weeks to add to this post, in the meantime I have added a few I found on flickr.